Cryptic crossword clue
Old man practising theft - going to pieces! 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word PANICKING

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
A
N
I
C
K
I
N
G

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "going to pieces" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case going to pieces = panicking.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does PANICKING mean?

PANICKING verb
  1. To feel overwhelming fear.
  2. To cause somebody to panic.
  3. (by extension) To crash.
  4. (by extension) To cause the system to crash.

Latest crossword clues with full explanations